


my story, your story

by glitterprincess



Category: THE iDOLM@STER
Genre: F/F, just some pure wholesome naokare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-15 12:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11230548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterprincess/pseuds/glitterprincess
Summary: Karen invites Nao over for a sleepover, and things get better from there.





	1. one small step

Karen Hojo was having, simply put, the most boring summer break she could imagine. She had no schedules, no one to hang out with, and nothing to do; she had finished all her summer homework days ago. In a desperate attempt to find someone to hang out with, Karen reached out to everyone and anyone she could contact in 346 Production, but with no success. 

Rin had New Generations promotions to attend, as they were preparing to release a new song, so there was no way Karen could contact her. Mayu was too busy watching Producer go about his day, but she invited Karen to join her if any plans fell through. Yui was busy as well, claiming her entire summer break was dedicated to “going on dates with Chinatsu-chan.” Kaede was so smashed that she only replied to Karen with a nonsensical string of emoji. The other idols Karen texted either made excuses or never answered. Nao, as far as Karen knew, was probably bored out of her mind, but Karen could not bring herself to contact her. 

\----------

Karen knew that Nao’s parents often went out to dinner on Saturday nights, and during that time, Nao's older brothers disappeared to go hang out with their drinking buddies. Although Nao tried to act like it didn’t bother her whenever Karen brought it up, she was obviously lonely, and there were only so many otome games Nao could play in an attempt to abate her loneliness.

_I’m doing this for Nao, I’m not doing it for myself..._ Karen tried to rationalize her sudden decision to contact Nao, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in order to calm her nerves. Right as Karen went to tap on her name and begin the call, Nao’s contact image took over her entire phone screen. Karen was greeted by Nao's smiling face. By some miracle, Nao had decided to call Karen first. Without a second thought, Karen accepted the call.

“Hey, Karen…” Nao’s voice trailed off.

“What’s up, Nao?” Karen asked. She suddenly began to worry if she came off too eager, and hesitated to speak. Nao stayed silent for a moment as well.

“Would you… Would you mind if we hung out, maybe if we had a sleepover or something? My parents said they won’t be able to make it home for the night, and my brothers are probably so drunk at this point that I don't even want to talk to them. I-it’s not like I don’t want to be alone, I just… y’know… we haven’t hung out in a while.” Karen could tell Nao was trying to keep her composure, but ended up rambling anyways. 

“Yeah, sure. You can head on over here whenever you're able to. You might need to bring food, by the way. I guess we ended up lucky, both my parents are working overtime.” Karen replied, as she felt a smile make its way onto her face. Her heart felt light. She really had the best girlfriend in the world. Except, she didn’t know if Nao liked her, but she was still the best girlfriend in the world regardless.

“...Karen? Are you listening? Don’t tell me you dropped dead!” Nao began to increasingly panic as she kept rambling.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I zoned out a little.” Karen sheepishly tried to apologize.

“Don't scare me like that, Karen! I get all nervous when you get quiet over the phone." Nao paused. 

"Well then, I’ll pick up something for us to eat then make my way down to your place. You’re okay with this, right?” It seemed as though Nao regained her composure.

“Of course. You have enough money?”

“Um… yeah. Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.”

“Okay, then. See you later, Nao.”

“See ya, Karen.” Nao hung up.

Karen put her phone down, took a deep breath, and started giggling, from both nerves and pure joy. This was going to be her first sleepover with Nao since middle school, and she couldn’t be more excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was kind of lackluster but I'll try to improve from here. This is my first attempt at writing fanfic in over 5 years, so please be patient with me. Thanks for reading.


	2. this adventure will never end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nao brought Karen fries, and in return, wants Karen to paint her nails.

About half an hour later, Karen heard her doorbell ring, which meant one thing: Nao was here. Karen rushed down the stairs, almost tripping and falling over in the process, but managed to keep her balance. All those dance lessons had come in handy. Karen ran towards the door. She unlocked it as fast as she could. She didn’t even realize her hands were shaking uncontrollably. When she opened the door, Nao stood there with her bike, a gentle smile present on her exhausted face.

The humidity took its toll on Nao; she looked like a mess. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead from sweating so much, and her signature cat eye was smudged from the heat (how many times had Karen told her to put primer on first?). Nao had a backpack secured around her shoulders, and some sort of plastic bag hung from the handlebars of her old purple bike, the bag still swinging from all the movement. Karen would never say it aloud, but Nao really did look dorky. 

Nao’s dorky tendencies, in Karen’s eyes, were more endearing than anything else; even since elementary school, Nao had always been a ham. As an idol, she had to tone it down in public, as Producer said that it wasn’t “as good a fit” for Nao as playing the “cool girl” role. However, a few years had passed since Nao’s idol career had begun, and she was finally given the privilege to act more like herself in the public eye. But, in a way, Karen liked being the only one who got to see that side of Nao. Maybe someday, she could see Nao’s romantic side.

Karen snapped out of reverie in an instant; it was rude to keep Nao waiting, as patient as she was.

“Hey, Karen.” Nao seemed a bit confused.

“Nao… You rode your bike here.” Karen said. She couldn’t tell if she was in awe or disappointed.

“Yeah, I did. I thought a nice, leisurely ride would be nice. I need to shed some weight anyways. I’ve been pigging out on barbecue chips and playing Overwatch too often,” Nao replied, chuckling softly. “Anyway, Karen, I brought you some fries.” Nao motioned toward the plastic bag, its flimsy handles now resting in the palm of her hand. 

“Where from?” Karen eyed the bag suspiciously. Of course, Karen would still eat the fries even if they weren’t from _her place_ , but Karen swore to god, if Nao got those stale-ass french fries from the konbini again she would kick her a-

“I dunno, I think it’s this place called American Burger?” Nao said with a devilish smirk. She handed the bag to Karen, who promptly snatched it out of her hands.

Karen opened the paper bag nested within the plastic bag, taking a whiff of the fries and letting out a satisfied sigh. She was definitely a bit too excited to have her second meal of the day.

“So… uh, can I just leave my bike out in the yard? I wanna eat my burger now.” 

“Yeah, sure. There’s no one around here to steal it anyways. Why don’t you come on in?” Karen motioned for Nao to follow her, then turned around and tread back into her house. When she reached the kitchen table, she promptly discarded the plastic bag and pulled the surprisingly large container of fries out.

It was after Karen sat down that she realized just how huge that order of fries happened to be. The paper container was teeming with perfectly crispy, steaming, delicious fries. The aroma of perfectly fried potatoes filled the kitchen. Karen’s favorite girl and her favorite food were both with her; even if she somehow made it to heaven, it could not be amazing as this moment.

“Nao… you bought all these fries for me?” Nao was across the house, taking her shoes off, but lifted her head up to look at Karen.

“Yeah. Well, I owe you, don’t I? For getting me out of the house and everything. I was hoping you would do a small favor for me too.” Nao walked slowly to the table and sat across from Karen, setting her backpack down beside her. 

“Come on, Nao. Just tell me what you want. If it’s a kiss you want, then hold still, okay?” Karen teased, unable to resist the opportunity to see Nao’s face heat up.

And it did. Damn, Kanade’s advice actually worked.

Nao’s face slowly turned a deep crimson, the heat building up rapidly in her cheeks. Karen wasn’t sure how to describe the way she felt when Nao scrunched those caterpillar eyebrows and flared out her cheeks like a squirrel, squeezing her backpack in frustration. Nao looked so cute when she got flustered that Karen couldn’t even put it to words. 

After a few seconds of tense silence, Nao hung her head down, her bushy, wild brown hair covering her face. After taking a moment to regain her composure, Nao lifted her head and looked Karen in the eyes.

“Hey, uh, Karen… “ Karen made eye contact with Nao, who looked away and began to freak out once again.

“Don’t look at me like that, dammit!” Nao managed to sputter out those few words before burying her still red face in her backpack. It took a while for Nao to regain both her composure and her dignity, but she eventually did, slowly bringing her head back up to face Karen.

“What is it that you need, Nao? I’m serious this time, don’t worry.” Karen studied the girl sitting in front of her, who was frantically digging through the backpack she had earlier sat on the table.

“Would you be willing to paint my nails, Karen?” Nao pulled a small vial of glittery pink nail polish out of her purse. “I can’t do it myself, I end up making a mess every time.” She let out a soft sigh.

Ah, Karen thought. This is my chance.

“Of course. Let’s go to my room, okay?” Karen replied softly.

"Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the huge delay! I hope you all enjoy the chapter regardless :)


End file.
